Nairobi News

Nandi Senator Samson Cherargei has hit out at the judiciary for declaring the position of Chief Cabinet Secretary (CAS) as unconstitutional.

The outspoken lawmaker, in a tweet, wondered why the court nullified the CAS positions after President William Ruto had appointed 50 of them and sworn them in yet the government has consistently supported the judiciary.

Cheragei further described the judiciary as ‘rogue’.

“The judiciary has gone rogue by ruling that the creation of CAS positions is unconstitutional without considering the merits of the case,” Cheragei wrote.

He did not substiatiate the supposed merits.

According to Cherargei, the government allocated Sh4 billion to the Judiciary in the current fiscal year 2023/2024.

“In the 2023/24 financial year, the judiciary received an additional Sh4 billion above its normal budget, but this is a continuation of the backlog of cases, corruption and ineptitude in the delivery of justice by the Judiciary.”

The vocal United Democratic Alliance (UDA) member suggested the government was not happy with the majority decision.

“We shall appeal this decision that negates public interest and principles of Natural justice. Who will watch the watcher?

The 50 CASs were sworn in March 2023 at State House, a ceremony presided by President William Ruto before the constitutionality of the positions was petitioned.

In the ruling on July 2, 2023, a majority decision from Justices Aleem Visram also ruled there was no enough evidence of public participation exercise from the Public Service Commission (PSC).

“Furthermore, the Stay in the Court of Appeal preserved the original office created on the 24th of January 2018; once that office was abolished on the 21st September 2022, the newly created office and complement of 23 office holders could no longer benefit from that Stay. Accordingly, the newly created office and fresh complement of 50 had to comply with the constitution and the criteria set out earlier in Okiya’s case in order to be lawfully established. They did not comply. For the avoidance of doubt, the entire complement of 50 CASs is, therefore, unconstitutional,” Justice Kanyi Kimondo ruled.

Justice Kanyi also ruled that ‘We do not think that it was the intention of the framers of the Constitution to have 50 CASs deputizing 22 CSs’.

In her descending decision, Justice Hedwig Ong’undi ruled that there was enough public participation but said that the process that led to the creation of 27 CAS positions did not follow the law.

“The sequence and procedure that led to the establishment of the 27 additional posts did not adhere to the Constitutional principle under Articles 10 and 232 of the Constitution and conditions set under Section 27 of the PSC Act. This process, in our opinion, did not satisfy the guiding principles set out by the Supreme Court in the BAT case,” Justice Ong’undi ruled.

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